My experience working with Restaurant and Hospital professionals includes Hotel Managers, Operations Managers and Banquet Managers; Bar Managers and Bartenders; Reservations Managers and staff; Waiting and Hosting staff; Maintenance and Building Supervisors and staff; Chefs and kitchen staff; Accounting and Audit Supervisors; Customer Service and Sales Staff.

Many, many people working in the restaurant or hospitality industry get burnt out working long hours in the evenings and weekends. Frequently workers in these fields are given much more responsibility than the level of their job titles or pay rates. If you're like this group, you may be reading this workshop because you're also in this situation, want to get a job with regular hours and better pay.

A big tip for those leaving these industries to enter business or office positions is to eliminate words such as "restaurant, hotel, hospitality, hostess, waitress or bartender" from your resume. Rather focus on the skills you've gained that are transferable to the types of positions you want. This will not only help you land more interviews you'll also generate higher salary offers.

Timothy is a good example of this. As a Bartender for a major hotel, he had been responsible for managing and scheduling the bar staff, ordering inventory and overseeing customer service for an affluent customer base. Prior to that position he had been a Head Waiter. His salary with tips had ranged up to $40,000 per year. He then found a management position starting at a comparable salary, overseeing a warehouse that stocked and distributed restaurant supplies. The ad for this position requested supervisory experience, ability to coordinate the duties of up to 20 staff in a fast paced environment, familiarity with full range of restaurant supplies and inventory control procedures.

Compare the titles in Tim's before resume below. How well do they sell him for this position?

Now compare the headings I created for Tim's after resume, while working with him. Do they present an entirely different impression of his skills that immediately elevate his image? Which set of titles of headings will help Tim land the position?

Using his new resume, Tim made a successful transition out of the restaurant industry. Whether you wish to stay or leave the restaurant or hospitality industry, use this example as a guide in categorizing and relabeling your skills. Remember to omit job titles that do not match the position you want and result in creating an image beneath your desired salary level.

$9,000 Salary Increase
The first resume workshop in this site shows how Fran's after resume resulted in a $9,000 salary increase. Fran wanted a $33,000 Corporate Customer Representative job but her resume created an image of her being at a $20,000 to 24,000 salary level -- that's $9,000 to $13,000 beneath her goal.

What Level Does Your Resume Market You At?
If you are curious to see what level your resume is marketing you at … then be sure to read and use the graphing techniques in my first workshop. By graphing the job titles used in Fran's resume it's easy to see why her resume failed … and once you understand this … you will understand why the majority of resumes fail. You'll then understand how to analyze your job titles and see if you are better off using them or replacing them with skill headings that market you more effectively.

Most People Have Job Titles that Weaken Their Image
I estimate that at least 85% of all job seekers have job titles unrelated to their current career goals … and that they are much better off using skill headings rather than job titles to land higher salaries and double and triple their interview rates.

For example, Fran had been a Directory Operator but in most people's minds that doesn't sound like she's at the level of a Corporate Customer Representative making $33,000 … that's because most people don't view directory operators as providing true customer service. Most people say that Directory Operator sounds like someone making only $20,000. However, by using the 12 Questions in my Proven Resumes Series, Fran wrote a new description of her duties as a Directory Operator that described her being selected out of 100 Directory Operators to provide specialized Customer Service to the Governor's Office and Political Dignitaries in the Washington State Capitol … now that information begins to change our image of Fran doesn't it? That makes her sound much more like someone being able to command $33,000.

Which sounds like a better match for the $33,000 Corporate Customer Service Representative goal… her old job title of Directory Operator … or a skill heading like Customer Service Representative to State of Washington Account. In Fran's actual resume we used the heading of Customer Service Representative but you can see how you can play with skill headings to control and elevate your image … this is one strategy I explain in detail with examples throughout my book, Proven Resumes: Strategies That Have Increased Salaries, and one of the strongest things I can offer you as a resume writer … just in case you don't have the time or patience to write your own.

Going from 0% to 100% Interview Rate
By using skill headings that matched her goal, Fran went from a 0% interview rate to a 100% interview rate -- meaning none of her prior resumes had landed an interview but her new resume landed an interview for each position she applied for.

Click here to learn other ways we improved Fran's resume and landed her a job paying $9,000 more click here to read my first set of resume workshops! If you've entered my site via this page, be sure to go to my main website's home page for an overview of more than 60 Free Resume & Job Search Workshops that include tons of Resume Tips for 45 Career Fields, Job Search, Electronic Resume, Cover Letter, Interviewing, Networking and Confidence Building strategies.

The testimonials throughout my site describe salary increases ranging from $10,000 to $30,000 and more. Here's one of my most recent ones:

In Summary
If you have extensive restaurant, food service or hospitality experience, or are graduating from a 4 year university program, I recommend that you consider purchasing my booklet series, Proven Resumes: Strategies That Increase Salaries. It is targeted for job seekers with a salary range of up to $100,000+ and provides over 2,000 skills, skill headings and sample sentences including a list for the restaurant/food service field along with lists for customer service, accounting, retail sales, HR management and general management fields. It provides extensive resume examples and worksheets to help you identify your skills and market them to match the jobs you want. For a complete description click on the link below.

If you have less experience in the restaurant or hospitality industry you may be interested in my booklet, 6 Easy Steps to Create Resumes and Cover Letters for Customer Service Students. For a complete description click on the link below.

Or, hire Melissa Pontow to write your resume.  Melissa has been trained extensively by Regina Pontow, author and owner of this website.  Melissa has been writing resumes online since 1997.  Please click here to review Melissa's resume writing services, or qualifications listed in Melissa's resume.